Successful marketing (VHP’s) develop strategies and campaigns that position themselves as trustworthy, reliable, and uniquely different. The opposite is poor marketers wasting their time promoting features, and benefits, and claiming to have a better product. Further, it’s not about being better than your competition!
During the past five or six years, our world has undergone an incredible shift in how people do business. It’s said that 92% of people claim they trust recommendations from people they know. Before the early 2000s, salespeople had a unique “power” because they were able to educate their prospects. Prior to Google, marketers were the informers. Today, they will be shown the door.
People today don’t trust salespeople or marketers today. Oddly, they do trust:
Authority – writing articles, blog posts, social media posts, videos, and more
Specialists – know their pains and speak their language, limiting your offerings
Celebrities – get published, get on a local TV or radio show, speak at local events
Exclusivity – don’t just rush to accept or take any old prospect – just because they claim they “want” you. Be selective by properly qualifying them.
Mavens – make it ALL about the client – they don’t care about you – their issues and problems are all that matter
If you can achieve most or all of the above, you once again “control” the sales process. When you control the sales process, you are more likely to dictate the price! It’s about becoming a trusted advisor to your clients.
Becoming a celebrity is about self-promotion and publicity. If you are like most people, you’re not very good at or even comfortable with self-promotion. We often shy away from publicity. However, there are some quieter ways to begin the process. Becoming an author – for those that can write a short book. Write articles for a Blog, write posts on Facebook and Twitter, and even ask for recommendations on LinkedIn. A few will even be good at creating a series of five-minute videos on a topic you know and are passionate about.
Sadly, the reality is (it’s estimated) that 90% of people in the position of marketing just “wing it.” Most very high sales performers (VHP’s) have learned that selling is a PROCESS, not an activity.
The process must include:
- Lead Generation
- Qualifying Prospects
- Building Trust
- Knowing their Pains
- Speaking their language
- Appointment Setting
- Marketing Presentations
- Lead Follow-up
- Getting Referrals
- Actively using a CRM
The great thing about following a proven process is that it is repeatable, and can be tweaked as situations change. The unsuccessful marketer generally has no system in place and operates from the seat of their pants.
Too many people put into the role of salesperson are motivated to sell, but seriously lacking in the appropriate skills for our new world of selling. So many of the highly revered ‘Sales’ Books on the market today are the same crap that was popular 15 – 40 years ago. If you want real-world (today) marketing training, call me and see if you or your sales staff would be a good fit for my exclusive sales training program.
Author: Dick Wagner, National Sales Consultant
Copyright 2021-2022
